Last week I was over at Red Dirt Ramblings reading Dee’s post about plants she used to hate but now loves. It got me thinking about the plants I love and hate. Daylilies used to be among my hates, particularly the ‘Stella de Oro’ variety. I think I really dislike them because they’re way overused, at least here in NE Ohio. Every shopping complex and retail area has them everywhere. When we first arrived at Chiot’s Run there were a good number of daylilies planted in the garden, most of which were given to my mom.
Why do I dislike lilies? I don’t really know, perhaps it’s because the flowers fade so quickly and look untidy. Maybe it’s the shape of the plants. For some reason I’ve always disliked them.
Although certain day lilies are now welcome in the gardens of Chiot’s Run, I still haven’t learned to love the poor ‘Stella de Oro’. Arborvitaes & yews were also on my list of dislikes when it came to plants, but both have been slowly making their way onto the tolerable and possibly useful in certain situations list.

Are there any plants that you used to dislike but now like?

Share this:

14 Comments to “Love/Hate”

Karlaon July 30, 2012 at 8:08 am

I have some Stella de Oros that came with my house, and my initial impulse was to get rid of them, because I agree that they’re overused. I haven’t yet, though, because my priorities have been other places where I’ve been putting in raised beds, berries, fruit trees, etc., and it’s been nice to have two neat rows lining the front walk that will keep the neighbors happy while my attention is elsewhere. Also, it is satisfying to mow them down in the fall. :)

I agree completely about Stellas. I love Tiger Lily’s, though. They’re difficult to procure through official means, but they grew *everywhere* in SWOntario, where I grew up. I also have a love/hate with Asiatic Lily’s. Love the colours, *HATE* how they look once the blooms are gone (and how easily they drop petals, argh!). I tend to dislike tulips (please don’t lynch me!) because of how they look when the blooms fade, but some of the doubles and non-typical ones aren’t too bad.

I love snowdrops, and was pleased to see them lining the backside of my house, but didn’t know how invasive they are and knowing we’re going to have to remove them is a daunting task (dripline/foundation precaution).Kelly H.´s last post ..Wind

I’m with you on the Stella De Oro lilies– way over used. I can’t stand Crepe Myrtles either- there must be at least a 1000 in my small town! They just aren’t a pretty tree! And they serve no real function either– how about a useful tree if they are gonna plant so many! Anyways, rant over. I used to hate purple coneflowers but now I can’t imagine my garden without them. I’m even adding more!Melissa´s last post ..Bang for your Buck!

Before I gardened,I disliked hostas,especially the striped variety that everyone seemed to like. Now, hostas are one of my favorite shade loviing plants. I prefers them planted in mixed groupings though.

Goodness, I hate Stella too. She is overplanted. I would say overplanting and monoculture are two things I especially hate. You know I love other daylilies, but I must deadhead them everyday, or they do get really messy and ugly.

As for cannas, although they were part of my post, I still don’t love them. I just enjoy their red leaves. Thanks so much for the link love. We all have our likes and dislikes don’t we?~~Dee

I hate petunias. Especially the smell – I cannot stand it, even outside, so I don’t think will ever change. And I’m not a big fan of yarrow either, but I’ve recently seen some varieties that may make me change my mind. One day.

I’m not the biggest daylily fan either, and for the same reason – way too over used. However, one of my fellow garden club members is a aylily breeder, and I have a standing invitation to raid his rejects for my garden. His plants are, I have to say, incredible, and not like anything you’ll see in most garden centres. And free – can’t pass that up! But I still don’t like them enough to fill my garden with them – three or four, maximum :)K.B.´s last post ..The Garden in July – Greens and Brassicas

Susy, plants I don’t like, hmmmmm. When I bought my new property, it was loaded with the common variety of daylily. I since of heard the nick name of ditch lily. I thought it would be a great asset for the property but have found it to be quite difficult to control but I’m working on it. Perhaps a few years of taming the wild lily will change my mind about them. They seem to have a short blooming cycle and then die off. This year being so dry and hot is not a good year to judge any kind of plants. Plants just don’t seem to know what to do with the hot dry weather. This is day 40 without rain. The temperatures are still in the middle to upper 90s. Rain has come to the north and south but none for my area. I’m still watering the garden big time daily.

I used to *loathe* roses. I thought they were ugly, high maintenence, disease ridden, thorny creatures. Then I discovered wild roses which didn’t need a lot of maintenence and grew like a weed. I also discovered tiger roses, which is a french type rose bred for disease resistence.

I’m currently using these “thorny” rose bushes as fencing, which is great on slopes. The pretty blooms are the bonus.Chris´s last post ..All grown up

Plants that I used not to like were ones that were not growing well where I was first introduced to them –
the scrawny, leggy nandina barely surviving in poor soil next to my church, the hydrangea looking kinda of kitchy against a cinder block building.
But after seeing many examples of them thriving in other places, I’ve learned to love them and have them in my own landscape.
I do love daylilies and crepe myrtles a couple of plants that probably are considered overplanted in my area, but I have not yet learned to like red tip photinias (also probably overplanted).
We’ve had good rains here, so I’ve had a succession of daylilies since late May.
Another plant that I had to learn to love was purple coneflower. The color of the petals and the color of the center seemed to me to clash in the catalogs, but I sowed a packet of wildflower seeds probably 15 years ago or so. Most of the flowers have ceased coming back except the coneflowers and horsemint. The coneflowers have taken over the whole original bed. Shade has encroached over the years, so I probably need to move them. I’ve gone from not liking them to getting so much delight from them! I can count on them being in bloom on Father’s Day, but I actually noticed a few stragglers blooming today. The goldfinches like the seeds, so I get a double the pleasure in looking at my flower patch.

Ah…the infamous Stella D’Oro! They are EVERYWHERE in the commercial landscape maintenance industry. I’ve found that they start flowering less and less over the years – I believe it’s because they needed dividing or where over-ferted/over-watered.

I used to abhor flowering cherries because I grew up with some stunted, elderly cherry that weren’t healthy and never flowered well. Now I practically DANCE under Portland’s flowering cherries in the spring! I featured it this week as my Plant Pick of the Week along with some of my favorite varieties HERE:

Leave a Reply

Support Chiot’s Run

We keep our blogs ad-free, not wanting to sell YOU (our readers and listeners) out. We believe in ‘Value for Value’, if you get some value from something we produce, consider giving some value in return through a monthly subscription.

Or make a one-time donation. Attach a note to any donation over $50 and we will read it on the podcast.

Reading & Watching

Resources

Shop through these links and I get a few cents each time. It's not much, but it allows me to buy a new cookbook or new gardening book every couple months. I appreciate your support!

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.